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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Cleon" data-source="post: 9252088" data-attributes="member: 57383">Okay, how's this for a Description? A giant dragonfly looks identical to its tiny sized cousins except for being about 8 feet long: a long tubular abdomen, a short sturdy thorax with four wings and six spindly legs, and an oval head that's mostly two enormous compound eyes with compact slicing mandibles tucked underneath and a pair of short antennae above. Its body is brilliantly colored in stripes and spots, most often in metallic greens, blues and golds. Dragonflies have translucent, dark-veined wings with a short strip of color on the leading edge near each wingtip (the pterostigmata). The rest of the wing is generally clear and colorless but it may be pigmented. Most normal dragonflies have clear wings, but almost all giant dragonflies have colored wings; the majority are pale amber but some have stripes or patches of color, most commonly russet, scarlet or peacock blue. The most colorful giant dragonfly wings can rival the beauty of a stained glass window. Giant dragonfly skin can be transformed into gorgeous leather and is highly prized by some societies for use in magnificent apparel, accessories and decorations. The wings are sometimes used as window panes or fans. Aerial Hunters. A dragonfly is an amazingly fast and agile flier, able to move in any direction–including backwards–and can hover as if it's nailed to the air. Their six legs are not built to move quickly on land, but are used for perching and to form a "basket" for catching prey. Natural dragonflies hunt on the wing, preying upon flying insects smaller than themselves. The dragonfly snatches their prey in its leg basket and bites then either devours them in the air or lands on a perch to feed (most often when its meal is inconveniently heavy). The monstrous giant variety preys on creatures up to its own size, and unlike normal dragonflies it will hunt creatures on the ground as well as in the air. The commonest prey are smaller creatures (e.g. a baboon, giant fire beetle, rat, or an unlucky halfling), and it particularly focuses on flying prey (e.g. a bat, eagle or NAME OF GIANT INSECT?). Like most giant insects, a giant dragonfly operates entirely on instinct. If the prey looks small and light enough to carry through the air, the giant dragonfly instinctively uses the snatch-and-bite tactic. If the target looks too big and heavy for this tactic, a giant dragonfly repeatedly darts in to bite and then flies out of its victim's reach until it prey falls or the insect receives a significant injury. It automatically flees if approached by any creature bigger than itself, being "programmed" to identify such as potential predators. While a natural dragonfly is exclusively a solitary predator, small groups of giant dragonflies will sometimes attack together and share the kill. This behavior mainly occurs among dragonflies that live in areas with abundant Medium prey. The attacking flight of dragonflies numbers up to a half-dozen or so and does use coordinated tactics like a pack of wolves or lions. Their cooperation is limited to not eating each other. Flyers of Lakes and Marshes. Like their normal kin, giant dragonflies congregate over freshwater and spend most of their time hunting for food and breeding. Most giant dragonflies prefer water that's still or slow flowing with abundant aquatic vegetation; typically a lake, pond, marsh or sluggish river. They are only active during the day, sleeping on perches at night. A giant dragonfly often has favorite perches that overlook a good hunting and/or breeding area, which they will defend vigorously from rival dragonflies. Males are way more territorial than females. Dragonflies sometimes fly great distances in search of new bodies of water to claim as their own. Like their normal kin, a giant dragonfly larva is an aquatic creature called a nymph or naiad (see Giant Dragonfly Nymph for details). Each species of giant dragonfly can be extremely fussy about what type of water they breed in. The temperature, chemistry, depth, vegetation and current must match the female's exacting standards. The dragonflies mate in midair, often after ferocious aerial jousts between rival males, then the female finds a suitable section of water to deposit her eggs. A female giant dragonfly lays her eggs in multiple clutches, sometimes as few as a couple of eggs at a time, which she will scatter around as many good breeding spots as she can find. Some giant dragonflies will lay eggs in surprisingly small bodies of water that are barely large enough for a single full-grown nymph. If the food supply and other conditions are right, some giant nymphs can mature in a large barrel of water (e.g. a tun barrel of 210 to 252 gallons) or a pool with similar dimensions. </blockquote>

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